Grain-door for railroad-cars.



PATENTED JULY 30 W. P. CARTER.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR RAILROAD CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3, 1905.

Inventor.

Attorneys rm: NORRIS PETERS co.. wAsWmu, n. c.

WINFIELD I. CARTER, OF RAYMOND, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR RAILROAD-CARSQ Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed July 3, 1905. Serial No. 268,161.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WINFIELD P. CARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Raymond, in the county of Montgomery and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Grain-Door for Railroad- Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to. grain doors for railroad cars and it has for its objects to simplify and improve the construction and operation of this class of devices.

With these and other ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved con-- struction and novel arrangement and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention. In said drawings, Figure 1 is an interior elevation showing a portion of the side wall of a-car equipped with the invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the grain door suspended adjacent to one side of the door opening. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line 33 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail view of one of the grain door hangers. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view of one of the keepers connecting the door with the hangers. Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view of the gravity latch used for securing the grain door in inoperative position. Fig. 7 is a detail view illustrating one of the hooks for securing the grain door in its closed or operative position.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

The present invention is applicable to any ordinary railroad freight car, of which, in the drawings, 1, designates one of the sills, 2, one of the sides, 3, the door opening, and 4,4 the posts or uprights adjacent to said door opening. 5 is a section of the floor. Upon the inner side of the side wall of the car, above the door open- .ing and extending to one side of the latter, is supported a track rail consisting of a bar, 6, the same being preferably rectangular in cross section, and supported 'at a distance from the wall, as upon brackets 6, and

said track rail being of a length somewhat exceeding twice the width of the door opening. Supported slidably upon said track rail are hangers 7, 7 which consist of flat metallic strips having rectangular slots, as 8, engaging the track rail and provided in their outer edges, near their upper ends, with downwardly inclinedrecesses 9 below which are formed outstanding lips or hook members 10 the points of which extend beyond the edges of the strips, as will be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, while the inner ends of the recesses 9 are located in the bodies of the strips; this construction being resortedlto iniorder to avoid the possibility of the parts being bent, contorted, or twisted out of shape, as is liable to be the case when the hangers are constructed of rods or wires bent to form supporting hooks. The lower ends of the hangers are outturned to form supporting lugs or shoulders 1.1.

It will be seen that, under the construction herein described, the hangers 7 are composed of flat strips or straps of sheet metal, adapted to lie compactly in contact with the side edges of the grain door when the latter is raised or elevated; hangers of this character are found much preferable to hangers composed of rods or wires which have to be spaced from the door supported thereby.

The grain door 12, which may be of any desired construction, is provided at its upper corners with keepers 13 slidably engaging the hangers, and holding said hangers constantly in contact with the side edges of the grain door, said keepers being provided in their front sides with notches 14 extending upwardly from their lower edges and in their rear sides with similar notches 15 extending downwardly from their upper edges. The grain door may be of any desired height and the hangers are so proportioned with relation to the door that when the lower edge of the latter rests upon the floor of the car, the ends of the keepers shall simultaneously rest and be supported upon the lugs or shoulders 11 at the free lower ends of the hangers, so that said hangers and keepers shall at no time be exposed toexcessive or injurious strain. It will also be seen that owing to the construction of the keepers with the notches 14 and 15, the door will have some freedom of movement with relation to the hangers, so that, when the door is lifted to the raised position indicated -in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the keepers will readily pass into engagement with the recesses 9 in the hangers and I be suspended or supported upon the latter, the front parts of the keepers being readily guided over the beveled or outstanding lips 10 into said recesses. In like manner disengagement of the keepers from the recesses 9 may be readily effected for the purpose of lowering the door by first slightly lifting the latter to disengage the keepers from the recesses, and then tilting the upper edge of the door to permit the front parts of the keepers to pass over the lips 10, thus permitting the door to be lowered.

Pivotally mounted upon the inner side of the car wall, above the rail 6 and in approximate alinement with the side of the door openingbeyond which the track rail is extended, is a gravity latch 16 which is beveled upon its under side so as to permit the hanger 7 which moves past the door opening to slide under it to the position seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings, by reference to which it will be understood that the door will thus be locked or secured in an open or inoperative position, said door being meanwhile supported by means of the keepers 13 in the recesses 9 of the hangers.v To restore the door to a position in alinement with the opening, the gravity latch 16 must be operated by hand to permit the hanger to slide under it.

Guides 17 18 are secured adjacent to the door opening 3, at opposite sides of the latter; the guide 17 beingoi a height approximatelyequal to that of the door, while the guide 18 is only o'f such a height as to permit the door to move over its upper end; said guides are for the purpose of retaining the grain door, when closed, in close contact wth the inner side of the car wall so as to absolutely prevent leakage of grain. The door is provided upon its inner side with a handle 19 whereby it may be conveniently manipulated;

The keepers 13 at the upper corners of the door are providedin their outer walls with apertures 20 adapted Y to be engaged by hooks 21, which latter may be secured, as by means of staples 22, to the sides of the posts or uprights 4. By means of these hooks, the upper edges of the grain doors may be drawn outward, so that the side edges of said doors shall be held in intimate contact with the inner sides of the walls.

In the outer sides of the doors, near their lower edges, are embedded blocks 24 of metal, forming abutnients against which the point of a crow-bar may be rested for the purpose of prying the doors open, when necessary, without battering or otherwise injuring said doors.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed, the operation and advantages of this invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it appertains. The construction of the improved grain door is simple and inexpensive; it may be readily applied to freight cars of ordinary construction; and it may, when thus apabove the door opening, hangers swung on the track and having near their upper ends outstanding lips defining downwardly-inclined seats, and at their lower ends oppositely-projecting lugs, a door, and reinforcing keepers se- 'cured to the upper corners of the door with one arm on each side thereof and through which the lower ends'ofithe' hangers project and with which the lugs engage,thdkcep- 5'0 extending from .the top and bottom of the opposite arms,

1 respectively, to permit the door to tilt and allow the keepers to pass the lips and engage with the seats to hold the door raised.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my s ignature in the presence of two witnesses.

WINFIELD P. CARTER.

Witnesses R. R. S mi imn, LEM L. Po'r'rs.

-ers being provided with alined opposite]y-dispo'scd recesses; 

